From man bash
:
Simple Commands
A simple command is a sequence of optional variable assignments fol-
lowed by blank-separated words and redirections, and terminated by a
control operator. The first word specifies the command to be executed,
and is passed as argument zero. The remaining words are passed as
arguments to the invoked command.
That is, it does not indicate the order of "words and redirections." Later in the REDIRECTIONS section:
REDIRECTION
[...]
The [...] redirection opera-
tors may precede or appear anywhere within a simple command or may fol-
low a command. Redirections are processed in the order they appear,
from left to right.
[...]
Thus, they can appear anywhere.
And as you yourself have observed, there is no difference between them in terms of the result. However, the difference in readability is different.
This is the most intuitive way to write it:
echo Hello world > file
Really easy to understand. >
looks like an arrow, doesn't it.
, .
.